NorthernBoy
Registered user
Well, that is maybe a bit unfair on the bike.
First of all though, I just thought it worth posting that I used South London Motorrad for the first time yesterday, and was impressed throughout. Nice people, decent price, and a good service. "Change gearbox oil", a 2 year item did appear briefly on the schedule for my nine month old bike, but was quickly removed when I pointed out that that was abit premature.
The also let me out for the whole day on a K1300S while they were servicing the GS, which I thought was nice of them. Unfortunately, I came back pretty disappointed with it. It probably is not the bike, but, rather, it was the combination of the bike and me. I am sure that in certain hands, it is savagely fast, but I think I'd have been faster on the GS on the route I rode.
The first issue was where the power was made. A bike like this needs to be revved, but now that my ear is accustomed to the sound of a big twin, I found myself changing up early most of the time. This was encouraged by the engine braking. On the GS, if you sit at "comfortable" revs (for me), such that you feel happy just rolling on and off the throttle, you are still not at a bad level when you want to get a move on. On the sportsbike, it seemed that I had to make a choice, sit at 4k, and have a comfortable and smooth ride, or sit at 8k, where the power and acceleration were available, but where you got huge engine braking when you rolled the throttle closed, making it a bit of a pain in villages and in traffic.
The second problem was the feel. I actually like that I can ride up to, and then slightly beyond, where grip runs out on the GS. It feels like a bike that you ride from the back end, like an enduro machine, and when you do get a wheel stepping out of line, it happens gently. The S, I am sure, will corner very much harder, but as I pushed on, the lack of feedback from the wheels (again, likely because I was nowhere near the limit) left me feeling slightly spooked, and lead to me backing off more than I would have liked.
Overall, I spent too much of the day realising that I was going 20mph slower than I wanted to be, or than I thought I was, and just found that I was having no fun.
On the plus side, opening it up all the way on the M25 reminded me of just what a bike like this feels like at higher speeds, and the quick-shifter was a revelation. It was so smooth, and made upshifts a real pleasure. This sort of thing will, I think, become standard on all sorts of bikes in the future. I knew that it would be good on full-bore changes, but did not realise how nice it would be even when I just wanted to accelerate normally up through the gears.
Anyway, I cut my day short by two hours as I decided that a couple of hours lying in the sun would be better than persevering any longer on something that did not suit me, which tells me all that I needed to know.
Back at the shop, and I gave the salesman what I thought was a fair appraisal (probably a great bike, but not for me, and definitely not on "normal" roads), thanked him for the test, and went to pick up the GS again, which was beautifully clean, all serviced, and ready to go.
I must admit, it felt very tall, and very strange, with weak-ish brakes, and strangely underpowered as I headed off, but within a couple of miles, I was grinning again. It just feels so right, this bike, so much the grown-up supermoto that I never knew I was looking for until I first tried one.
Now if only BMW can find a way to get 175bhp out of that twin, it'll be perfect...
First of all though, I just thought it worth posting that I used South London Motorrad for the first time yesterday, and was impressed throughout. Nice people, decent price, and a good service. "Change gearbox oil", a 2 year item did appear briefly on the schedule for my nine month old bike, but was quickly removed when I pointed out that that was abit premature.
The also let me out for the whole day on a K1300S while they were servicing the GS, which I thought was nice of them. Unfortunately, I came back pretty disappointed with it. It probably is not the bike, but, rather, it was the combination of the bike and me. I am sure that in certain hands, it is savagely fast, but I think I'd have been faster on the GS on the route I rode.
The first issue was where the power was made. A bike like this needs to be revved, but now that my ear is accustomed to the sound of a big twin, I found myself changing up early most of the time. This was encouraged by the engine braking. On the GS, if you sit at "comfortable" revs (for me), such that you feel happy just rolling on and off the throttle, you are still not at a bad level when you want to get a move on. On the sportsbike, it seemed that I had to make a choice, sit at 4k, and have a comfortable and smooth ride, or sit at 8k, where the power and acceleration were available, but where you got huge engine braking when you rolled the throttle closed, making it a bit of a pain in villages and in traffic.
The second problem was the feel. I actually like that I can ride up to, and then slightly beyond, where grip runs out on the GS. It feels like a bike that you ride from the back end, like an enduro machine, and when you do get a wheel stepping out of line, it happens gently. The S, I am sure, will corner very much harder, but as I pushed on, the lack of feedback from the wheels (again, likely because I was nowhere near the limit) left me feeling slightly spooked, and lead to me backing off more than I would have liked.
Overall, I spent too much of the day realising that I was going 20mph slower than I wanted to be, or than I thought I was, and just found that I was having no fun.
On the plus side, opening it up all the way on the M25 reminded me of just what a bike like this feels like at higher speeds, and the quick-shifter was a revelation. It was so smooth, and made upshifts a real pleasure. This sort of thing will, I think, become standard on all sorts of bikes in the future. I knew that it would be good on full-bore changes, but did not realise how nice it would be even when I just wanted to accelerate normally up through the gears.
Anyway, I cut my day short by two hours as I decided that a couple of hours lying in the sun would be better than persevering any longer on something that did not suit me, which tells me all that I needed to know.
Back at the shop, and I gave the salesman what I thought was a fair appraisal (probably a great bike, but not for me, and definitely not on "normal" roads), thanked him for the test, and went to pick up the GS again, which was beautifully clean, all serviced, and ready to go.
I must admit, it felt very tall, and very strange, with weak-ish brakes, and strangely underpowered as I headed off, but within a couple of miles, I was grinning again. It just feels so right, this bike, so much the grown-up supermoto that I never knew I was looking for until I first tried one.
Now if only BMW can find a way to get 175bhp out of that twin, it'll be perfect...
